Cobb, Ballers knock out Roadsters in Tuesday night thriller
Oakland overcomes three-run ninth inning deficit to win in tiebreaker
| Final (10) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
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0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 12 | 0 |
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0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 9 | 0 |
By Gareth Kwok
MODESTO, CA – For the third time in one week, Tremayne Cobb called game.
His five homers in the knockout round home run derby powered the Oakland Ballers to a comeback win over the Modesto Roadsters on Tuesday night by a final score of 8-8 from Modern Woodmen Field.
Cobb's five home runs over the left field wall of pitcher-friendly Modern Woodmen Field were more than enough to defeat Modesto's Tyler Williams and his two homers, winning the series opener for Oakland.
Oakland (14-17) led by as many as five two and a half innings in. After Modesto starting right-hander Jonah Jenkins retired the first seven batters, six straight Ballers collected base hits. Cobb hit an RBI single to open the scoring, Esai Santos hit a two-run double down the left field line, Jake Allgeyer singled home Santos to center, and Jaden Collura doubled home Allgeyer to give the Ballers a 5-0 lead.
Starting left-hander CJ Blowers turned in his second straight quality start. The 29-year-old pitched six innings, allowing two runs on two hits and five walks and struck out five in a no-decision. Blowers allowed just one hit through his first five innings pitched.
Jenkins neutralized the Ballers' bats after giving up five runs in the third. He went seven innings, struck out four, and did not walk a batter.
Modesto (18-13) answered with five runs on four hits in the seventh to take its first lead of the game. A two-run triple from Osiris Johnson pulled the Roadsters within one before Williams tied it with a single to left. An RBI triple from Jacob Lojewski and an RBI single from Justin Boyd put Modesto up 7-5.
A solo homer from Max Handron in the eighth off the bench gave Modesto a three-run lead entering the ninth.
Oakland started the ninth swimmingly with a double from Davis Drewek, one of his three hits on the day, and a single from T.J. McKenzie. Cobb grounded out to first to score Drewek from third and advance McKenzie to second. After McKenzie stole third and Santos walked, Collura hit a two-out RBI infield single off the pitcher Cooper Garrison's glove, scoring McKenzie and bringing the Ballers within one.
With Santos at third, a wild pitch scored him, tying the game at eight and completing a three-run ninth.
Modesto threatened in the bottom of the ninth with one out. Matthew Maloney allowed two singles and a walk to load the bases but induced a fielder's choice grounder to first and struck out Logan Sutter to keep the game tied, forcing the knockout round tiebreaker for a second consecutive week.
The Ballers will go for the series win as they continue their three-game road series against the Modesto Roadsters on Wednesday, June 24. First pitch is scheduled for 7:11 p.m from Modern Woodmen Field. Fans can tune in beginning at 6:55 p.m on the Oakland Ballers YouTube Channel and HomeTeam Network.
